1. Technical Field
This invention relates in general to animal training devices and, more particularly, to a cutting horse training device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Traditionally, a cutting horse is used in cattle herding to separate individual calves from a herd of cattle. While cutting horses are still used in actual cattle operations, cutting horse competitions have become extremely popular and have driven up the value for trained cutting horses. In fact, horse cutting is now one the fastest growing equine sports in the world.
In a cutting competition, the horse and rider are judged on their ability to separate a calf away from a cattle herd. Once the calf has been separated from the herd, the rider loosens the reins to allow the horse to keep the calf separated from the herd without prompting by the rider.
A horse will not naturally isolate the calf without instructions from the rider. To perform this feat, the horse needs many hours of training. One way to train the horse is to use a live calf. In time, however, the calf will learn to ignore the horse; at this point, a new calf must be used. The expense of replacing calves can become prohibitive, since the cutting training is not only intensive, but it must be repeated periodically to keep the horse in top shape.
Over the years, several mechanical devices for training cutting horses have been created. Most of these designs are either very expensive or ineffective. Furthermore, several of the designs require a significant amount of equipment to be left in the training pen, taking up valuable space. Further, equipment in the pen can be potentially dangerous for animals in the pen.
Therefore, the need has arisen for a mechanical cutting horse trainer which is relatively inexpensive, space-efficient and effective.